What a brilliant turnout on Saturday for our club draw. Members and friends certainly did us proud when they turned out in force, for this, our last club event before Christmas.

The evening started with a presentation and it was a case of ‘better late than never’ for some of our bowlers when they belatedly received their trophies for the Horace Beech Club Competition. Due to a technical hitch, namely, I got it wrong, the trophy was missed on our Presentation Evening, but all’s well that ends well and the lads got their moment of glory when our Club President, Brian, resplendent in his Christmas jumper, handed out the awards. The runners-up were Andy Walker, Paul Latchem and John Mallinson and the winners were Bill Brooks, Gerald Gregory and Paul Hill. Well done to you all, and I promise I’ll try to get it right next year!

It was a relaxed evening with lots of festive cheer in evidence: there were some fun quiz sheets which had a few scratching their heads, but judging by the amount of laughter and friendly banter, no one took them too seriously. It was a different matter though, when it came to the American Supper, for the spread was seriously scrumptious. A real banquet. Thanks to all who supplied the goodies.

After supper the real business of the evening began. The array of prizes was phe- nomenal: ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. There were bottles of wine and spirits, biscuits and chocolates, all sorts of ‘smellies’ and lots of other goodies, even a giant elf and a polar bear.

I have to say thank you to everyone who helped draw the numbers by ‘pushing my button,’ especially those who were brave enough to do it twice! Congratulations to all of the prize winners, and a huge thank you to everyone who supplied prizes and bought tickets; to all those who helped, especially the bar staff who kept the festive spirits high, and last but not least, everyone who came along to join in the fun. NH